Staying Connected
One of the many challenges of cruising is staying connected
to friends and family via phone calls, emails, skype (or other VOIP), and social
networking. AT&T and, perhaps,
other phone carriers, have an arrangement with Bahamas Telephone Company
(Batelco) that allows visitors to use their stateside phones while in the
islands. While a nice convenience,
this is actually an expensive option and one that few long-term cruisers
use. Instead, many of us opt for
suspending our stateside accounts and signing up with Batelco service. An unlocked phone or iPad is all that’s
needed to use their data cards; and, if we all stayed in Nassau, this post
would end right here. But we
don’t, so it doesn’t.
Bar Hopping
Having a tech-savvy husband on board is very handy when
navigating the shifting sands of connectivity. I consider myself lucky as I am on a strictly need-to-know
basis when it comes to how my magical iPad connects to the world beyond. Now that Jeanette is enrolled in an
online program, though, I have been forced to reach past the bounds of my
comfort zone (think paper and pencil, cards and stamps). I now know that if no wifi is
available, the phone signal needs to be at least 3 bars (preferably 4) to connect to Jeanette’s
program. As such, our route
planning now includes estimating the number of bars we might be able to obtain
at each island so that we can run J’s school off the phone, if needed. Surprisingly, we’ve been able to make
this work, even as we travel in and out of no service zones. Sometimes it requires a little
ingenuity, like running the phone up a halyard to the top of the mast. Other times, we just need to implement
our wifi booster – again, running it up a halyard to maximize receptivity. Once, Jeanette completed a discussion-based
assessment with one of her teachers while reclining on top of the boom for the best reception. A
little unorthodox, perhaps, but it works.
School happens whenever there's a connection |
Hello? Hello? Can you hear me Joe???
Just because we have a cell phone with 3 bars of service doesn’t mean that
it always works. Something strange
seems to happen when placing a call and, frequently, the call is incomplete or
diverted to a different number or the person on the other end can’t hear
us. A couple of weeks ago when my brother called me for my birthday, I found myself in the middle of a Dr. Seuss dialogue: "Hello? Hello? Can you hear me Joe??" Skype (video) is blocked by the Bahamian Telecom company but we have managed to complete a couple
of calls using Google Talk over the internet. Though we receive cell phone calls with no charge, calling the USA is expensive so we only use the phone when necessary. Social networking is almost out of the
question. We easily receive Facebook notifications via email, but logging into FB uses up data due to all the pictures on it. In the Bahamas, we rarely use FB unless we have
a strong wifi signal. Private
messages, comments, and inquiries can go unanswered for long periods of time
until we are connected once again and have bandwidth to spare.
Channel Surfing
Compared to the frustrations of phones and wifi,
communicating with other cruisers is a breeze. With a Single Side Band radio (SSB), a Very High Frequency
radio (VHF), and a satellite messenger (via our tracker), we have 3 reliable
ways to be in touch with other boaters and receive messages from home. On a day-to-day basis, we rely almost
exclusively on VHF radio for our communications. Using the VHF has meant learning a new vocabulary along with
radio etiquette. “Working channel,”
“Copy that,” “Roger,” “Over,” “Break,” and “Up one,” are terms that have worked
their way into everyday parlance.
Jeanette, especially, fumbles when making the switch from VHF and sailor talk to phone conversations,
where I frequently hear her say “copy that” to her teachers.
In some ways, the VHF is like texting – conversations are
typically short and to the point and oriented around plans for getting together. No one wants to tie up a channel for
long and if you do, you’re liable to get “stepped on” but another caller. Some locales have taken over a specific
channel. For George Town, channel
68 is the community line for hailing other boaters and making general
announcements. Think “party line”
for a couple hundred boats and you’ll have a good idea of what it’s like. Our kid-boat caravan selected a separate
channel so that we could communicate freely amongst ourselves and not have to
listen in on irrelevant chatter. After
using the VHF for so long now, a phone seems almost inordinately complicated
what with all the numbers, dial tones, call waiting, voicemails etc. Just hail me on the radio and we can talk while we walk the
beach.
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